1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus having a holding member to hold a recording medium and, more particularly, to a recording medium holding apparatus which allows the holding member to be movable in accordance with whether the recording medium is used or not.
2. Related Background Art
A recording medium wound like a roll (hereinafter, simply referred to as a roll paper) is used in electronic equipment having a recording apparatus, for example, in an electronic portable computer equipped with a printer or the like.
As a particular example of the use of roll paper, the paper is detachably set to a holder which is rotatably provided on the side of the electronic equipment and used.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an electronic equipment equipped with such a kind of conventional holder.
In FIG. 1, an electronic equipment 1 has an upper casing 1a and a lower casing 1b.
The edge portion of the upper casing 1a is provided with a bearing portion 7 arranged horizontally. A holder 6 is rotatably axially supported by the bearing portion 7.
Namely, the holder 6 is formed by bending, for example, a steel rod having a circular cross section or the like so as to become substantially the U shape. One arm 6a of the holder 6 is rotatably inserted into the bearing portion 7. The other arm 6b, which is parallel with the arm 6a, serves as a bearing portion of the roll paper.
The holder 6 can rotate in the direction indicated by an arrow A in the diagram around the arm 6a as a rotational center. When roll paper (not shown) is not used, the holder 6 is rotated and mounted onto the upper casing 1a as shown by a solid line in FIG. 1. When the roll paper is used, the holder 6 is rotated around the arm 6a until the base portion of the holder 6 comes into contact with a stopper 8 provided for the lower casing 1b. In this state, the arm 6b as the bearing portion is inserted into the core of the roll paper and thereby to set the roll paper.
The edge portion of the roll paper set in this manner is inserted from an insertion port 9 formed in the lower casing 1b at a position under the bearing portion 7. Recording is then performed onto the roll paper from the edge portion by recording means (not shown). After completion of the recording, the roll paper is pulled out of an opening portion 11 of a cover 10 provided for the upper casing 1a so that the cover 10 can be freely opened or closed. When the edge portion of the roll paper is stretched, the roll paper is cut out by a cutter 12 provided for the cover 10 at the position where the roll paper is in contact with the cutter 12.
However, with the foregoing structure, in the case where the roll paper is not used, the holder 6 is rotated and mounted onto the upper casing 1a, so that the user feels as if an alien substance existed on the upper casing, resulting in the loss of united external appearance of the electronic equipment. In addition, since the arm of the holder comes into contact with the upper surface of the upper casing, there is a fear that the arm 6b will collide with the upper surface of the upper casing and cause the upper surface to be damaged or the like de to the vibration when the user carries the apparatus or due to carelessness such that the user erroneously releases his hold of the arm 6b from a high position, or the like. On the other hand, when the roll paper is used, the holder is restricted by the stopper in the downward direction. However, no restricting means is provided in the upward direction, so that it is difficult to support the holder. For example, in the case where the apparatus main body is carried upon loading of the roll paper or where the apparatus is used with the main body held in the hand, or the like, there are the problems that the roll paper is not stably supported and that it is difficult to smoothly feed the roll paper.